An abused wife, a mother who’s children died, a widow of a murdered husband, and finally, a nun, Saint Rita experienced many lives in her time on earth. Knowing the powerlessness and despair of those in bad marriages she is invoked for help in desperate times. In her own lifetime she was famous for the power of her prayers to change any situation and it was said that she could accomplish the impossible. Canonized almost 500 years after her birth, she is the first declared female saint of the 20th Century.

Margarita Lotti was born to an older farming couple in Roccaporena, Italy. She was called Rita because of a vision of an angel her mother had who named the baby while declaring, “You will give birth to a daughter marked with the seal of sanctity, gifted with every virtue, a helper to the helpless and an advocate of the afflicted.” As proof of this prophecy, bees, a sign of divine presence, always hovered over her crib as she slept, never harming or waking her.

Though she had always wanted to be a nun, Rita’s parents feared for her future security as there was a schism in the church and many religious orders were closing their doors. Instead, she had to accept a marriage they contracted for her with a man named Paolo Mancini. Though he was a good provider, he soon proved to be an abusive, promiscuous husband. Settling his personal disputes with violence, Mancini created a tense family environment for Rita and the two sons she had with him. Never wavering in her devotion to God, Rita prayed that her husband would change his ways. After 18 years of marriage, Paolo had a vision of himself as others saw him and begged for his wife’s forgiveness. A lifetime of enemies caught up with Paolo and he was murdered, his mutilated body dumped on his family’s doorstep. Rita begged her two teenaged sons not to pursue a vendetta against his killers, but they refused. She prayed to God to prevent her sons from murdering anyone. Both of them came down with serious illnesses and died before they could act on their vendetta.

Alone in the world, Rita petitioned to join the Augustinian convent. Because several of the nuns there had family members who were involved in Paolo’s murder, the convent refused her, not wanting tensions to carry over from the outside world. Rita prayed and entreated Paolo’s family to forgive his killers. Much to everyone’s surprise, they acquiesced and Rita was admitted to the convent on her third try. While there she spent her days nursing the older nuns and concentrating on Christ’s suffering. When she begged to feel what Christ felt on the cross, a thorn from the crown of thorns on a crucifix struck her on the head and became embedded there. It left a deep wound that never healed. Because this wound became infected and foul smelling Rita was shunned by the other nuns and remained in her cell praying and meditating. The January before she died, a cousin asked her if there was anything she needed and she asked for a rose from her childhood garden. The cousin was shocked to see that there was indeed two roses growing in that garden in the middle of January. Upon her death, her cell was filled with the smell of roses. Rita is always depicted with the thorn in her head, in her Augustinian habit, meditating on the crucified Christ.

Thorns: she took on the suffering of Christ
Wound in the head: Divine light, grace and spiritual power.
Roses: love. Also proof of Rita’s miraculous powers as her roses grew in the winter.

Novena to Saint Rita
O holy protectress of those who art in greatest need, O you who shine as a star of hope in the midst of darkness, blessed Saint Rita, bright mirror of God’s grace, in patience and fortitude you are a model of all states in life. I unite my will with the will of God through the merits of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and in particular through his patient wearing of the crown of thorns, which with tender devotion you daily contemplated. Through the merits of the holy Virgin Mary and your own graces and virtues, I ask you to obtain my earnest petition, provided it be for the greater glory of God and my own sanctification. Guide and purify my intention, O holy protectress and advocate, so that I may obtain the pardon of all my sins and the grace to persevere daily, as you did in walking with courage, generosity, and fidelity down the path of life.
(Mention your request).
Saint Rita, advocate for the impossible, pray for us.

Saint Rita help me urgently it has been almost two years that been searching for missing brother please help me find him and open doors communication. Send brother ur loving angels so he will know truth we are his biological family and that there will be happy family reunion. Touch brother soul so he can contact me. In name Jesus Christ. Feb 22, 2018

Dear St.Rita,please guide the marriage of William and Sharon.May they be blessed with healthy children and live a catholic family, catholic faith and raise a catholic children.Please make my children to live with holiness and trusting God at all times.St.Rita,please make my son in laws to be loving and caring and be converted to a catholic faith.Please help also my son Andrei and Meg to prepare their holy matrimony in the catholic church.In Jesus name i pray. Amen
St. Rita ,pray for us.

i do trust St. Rita to help me pray to the Lord our God..i experienced deep trouble regarding my case..so its impossible that i can overcome this but i know st. rita will make it possible for me..its my seven days of my novena i know i can make it!..Everything is possible to st.rita!

PLEASE BELIEVE…i prayed the novena as we were in a very difficult financial situation and were about to lose our home. Days after the novena my husband received a great new job offer and a few weeks later , just today, received news that we received a mortgage modification that will allow us to keep our home….i truly believe these were miracles that occurred because of St. Rita’s intercession…..i hope this gives faith to others…<3…God Bless…

I was having trouble letting go of some bad things and i prayed this novena it REALLY, REALLY, REALLY helped. I feel that posting about how it worked helps to make any issues I’ve had stay gone longer or permanently. I thank God for allowing St.Rita to intercede on my behalf to truly make me a better person. God Bless.

i pray many times to St. Rita and she always answers my prayers. St. Rita’s Novena is so strong that non catholic friends and family also pray to her and they’re prayers are answered. I truly believe she is with me all the time.

prayer to st rita of cascia Dear Rita, model wife and widow, you yourself suffered in a long illness showing patience out of love for God. Teach us to pray as you did. Many invoke you for help, full of confidence in your intercession. Deign to come now to our aid for the relief and cure of (name). To God all things are possible; may this healing give glory to the Lord. Amen.